Tag: shenstone

March 12th – Perhaps unwisely, I continued on a ride I’d done many times – Down through Stonnall, Shenstone Woodend, Canwell, then to Hints, Hopwas and Whittington via the canal; from there back over Common Barn and the heath to Weeford and back home via Shenstone. It’s a short ride. I know it like the back of my hand.

I struggled and fought. 

At Shenstone on the way home, it felt like I’d never reach home. When I did get there, I was in bed well before midnight.

All this was a shame, as spring was showing the way; lambs were in the fields, the weeping willows were coming into leaf and daffodils marked every verge, hedgerow and garden. It really was beautiful.

Shame I felt so rotten.

March 10th – The light held over the lanes as I headed for home – not a great sunset, but a good one, nonetheless. The lanes were eerie and quiet, and contrary to my expectations, it seems Keepers Cottage at Footherly remains. I had expected it to be demolished, as had the derelict cottages further down the lane; however, time and the elements seem to be doing the job instead.

A lovely, spooky commute home.

March 10th – A sign spring is finally upon us happened this evening – I returned from Birmingham just in time to catch the remains of the daylight dying over my homeward commute from Shenstone station. This is always welcome, and it’s nice to photograph this beloved landmark in anything other than darkness and sodium light.

This is just the best station. A great place to depart and come back to…

February 10th – I had another reason to be in Shenstone, which meant making a call in the village itself, which is always charming after dark – even the hideous clock looks better when you can see the face illuminated rather than the horridly crude brickwork. I loved the shop in Main Street which was almost Dickensian, and the Railway pub, which always looks so warm and inviting.

I stopped, and thought about it: but where I really wanted to be was home. So I put the camera away, and rode off wearily into the wind.

February 10th – After a cold and unpleasant morning commute, and subsequent trip into Birmingham during the day, I returned via the Cross City to Shenstone, my favourite of all night time railway station. Except that when I alighted, it wasn’t quite night yet; there were still fingers of daylight on the cloud-cover and the combination of natural and electric night was rather wonderful.

Glad I made it to Friday, was touch and go for a bit…

February 4th – Out for a good ride to Middleton and Tamworth on a sunny, bright but cold afternoon. I shot through Footherley against the wind, but as I came through the hamlet itself, I stopped and did a double take.

The old terraced cottages here – which had been derelict as long as I’ve been cycling these lanes, so near enough 40 years at least – have finally been demolished, and nothing now remains.

I’m not really sad for their loss – they were unremarkable in themselves historically and architecturally – but they were a landmark, and I’ll miss the marker they provided.

I wonder – can Keepers Cottage, the house similarly derelict near the brook, back towards Lower Stonnall – be long for the world? I think not.

December 13th – Returning late again from Birmingham, this time to Shenstone, back to my beloved rural station. The weather was damp, but warm again and the riding was easy, which is just as well as I was exhausted.

This is the busiest pre-Christmas I’ve had in a long, long time: normally about now I’m winding down and getting stuff ready for the new year. This year I’m doing none of that yet.

I’ll be so glad when I finish work.

November 14th – I came through my beloved Shenstone station late, expecting to see the match vaunted ‘supermoon’ – sadly, when I alighted, it was too cloudy to see. 

I consoled myself with the atmosphere of this lonely but beautiful place in the darkness. I love the white light on the steps, and the curious pool of light the car is bathed in.

October 28th – An irritating day where I forgot my camera and everything happened at top speed, so little time to take photos. I’d been over to Telford in the afternoon and came back from Shenstone as dusk fell.

These lanes, I know them so well; they run though my veins like blood. I must have ridden this route thousands of times, and certainly many with the impending feeling of autumn I had today.

I know I will again ride this way on a springtime, sunny day and the wheel will continue it’s inexorable rotation, but tonight, in the gathering dark, it felt a very long way off.

I hate the dark months.

October 26th – The gorgeous and remarkable sunsets also continue. Again, coincidentally passing near Shenstone, I caught an astoundingly dramatic mackerel sky sunset that lasted all of 15 minutes before it disappeared. 

As I left Shenstone station, there were hints in the sky to the west, and as I cycled home, I watched the shy intensify until it almost seemed to catch fire.

Then, by the time I got to Stonewall, all trace had disappeared from the sky and dusk was falling.

And yes, I do love the drama and geometry of pylons, and what better backdrop than a stunning sunset?